This blog began on 5/29/05 as an open forum for discussion of significant issues of the day. Principal amongst these is left-leaning politics.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Saturday Painting Palooza Vol.423

This week I will starting a new painting. The photo that I will be using is seen directly below. I will be using my usual acrylics on an 10x10 gallery-wrapped canvas.

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago with my old iphone. We were fortunate to be able to stay right at the edge of the Grand Canyon for a couple of days. The Bright Angel Trail was only a short distance away from our room at the ancient El Tovar lodge. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

While there, I actually had an opportunity to paint a small canvas while sitting on the canyon's edge. I had carried a brush, a few paints and the 4x5 inch canvas on our trip out from New York. I sat for about an hour and produced the image seen directly below.

Not my best work but it brings back that wonderful hour sitting in the sun. Unfortunately, with such a small canvas, I had to limit the elements of the painting. The result is a rather narrow view. That orange rock is a large peninsula of rock jutting out from the El Tovar. Past the rocky peninsula, the pinkish ledge behind can be seen and past that the far distance is seen in blue. It was done mostly on site with only a few minor changes made later on. Plein air painting is a difficult undertaking even under the best circumstances. The heat at the canyon made things even more difficult with paint drying time greatly reduced. I'll try this again at some point.

Next week I will actually have some work done on the photo at the top. See you then.